The secretory membrane system in the Drosophila syncytial blastoderm embryo exists as functionally compartmentalized units around individual nuclei.

ABSTRACT: Drosophila melanogaster embryogenesis begins with 13 nuclear division cycles within a syncytium. This produces >6,000 nuclei that, during the next division cycle, become encased in plasma membrane in the process known as cellularization. In this study, we investigate how the secretory membrane system becomes equally apportioned among the thousands of syncytial nuclei in preparation for cellularization. Upon nuclear arrival at the cortex, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi were found to segregate among nuclei, with each nucleus becoming surrounded by a single ER/Golgi membrane system separate from adjacent ones. The nuclear-associated units of ER and Golgi across the syncytial blastoderm produced secretory products that were delivered to the plasma membrane in a spatially restricted f

SUBMITTER: Frescas D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2063813 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature